If you have tried both natural sinus relief and more traditional methods to relieve your acute sinusitis but nothing seems to be working or maybe these methods work for a while but the problem keeps coming back then maybe sinus surgery could be the right option for you. The question of whether to have surgery or not is not an easy question to answer. While it is true that sinus surgery can often have a dramatic impact in opening up blocked sinuses it is also true that in a number of cases sinus surgery has had little real impact or the impact that was achieved doesn’t last very long.
So how do you know if you are a good candidate for surgery? Obviously the best advice in answering this question is to find a really good and experienced ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist and then to listen closely to their advice. When speaking to your doctor remember that the treatment path you follow is ultimately your decision and so it is always a good idea to find out as much as you can about your condition and treatment options before you visit your doctor so that you can ask the important questions.
In some cases, surgery is the only option. For instance, if you have a deviated septum, surgery might realistically be the only viable solution. All the neti pots in the world cannot fix a physically damaged septum or any other part of your nasal system that is not physiologically sound. On the other hand, all the surgery in the world will not make your allergies go away if that is in fact the root cause of your problems.
Your doctor considers a number of factors before recommending surgery. Normally these factors revolve around your history including the frequency and duration of your sinus episodes, a CT scan and their own examination of your sinuses. Often a general rule that is applied is if you have had four or more sinus infections each year and if the duration of these infections is increasing over time.
If you have already gone through the gamut of treatments and tried the decongestants, nasal steroid sprays, antihistamines, saline rinses, healthy eating, and even antibiotics and your sinuses are still acting up, you should consider consulting your doctor about surgical procedures that might help your nasal problems.
Sinuses are holes in your head. To be specific, they are cavities more than holes. The point is that they are hollow, or supposed to be, and act as a place where mucus forms and moves on to carry out its duties.
A healthy sinus has a light lining of mucus. If the nasal openings become clogged, your sinuses become impacted with mucus or sometimes air when the mucus cannot flow freely through your sinus cavity.
The biggest cavities are the maxillary sinuses and these are in your cheekbones just under your eyes. You also have frontal sinuses just above your eyebrows, ethmoid sinuses, and sphenoid sinuses. The ethmoids are on the bridge of your nose just between your eyes and the sphenoid sinuses are in the back if your nose. These latter two are very small.
When you have sinusitis, it feels like your whole head is in a vice and sometimes it is hard to tell where the pain starts. It could be in any or all of the sinus cavities, particularly in the frontal, ethmoid, or maxillary sinuses.
The goal of surgery is usually to open up access to your sinuses so that they can drain more easily. The openings are called the ostium. The options for sinus operations in the 21st century are great improvements over the last century. In the last century, this was often a very invasive procedure. Sometimes in the 20th century, this surgery involved cutting through the cheek to access your sinuses.
Of course, any surgery is not something to be taken lightly. Your doctor will put you through the usual tests and examine your clinical history extremely well. These could include a computed tomography (CT) scan, a smell test, blood tests, and rhinomanometry. Rhinomanometry measures how air behaves in your nasal passage by testing the air pressure and the airflow. Don’t forget it can involve general anesthesia and for some people this is something that they would rather avoid. There are also outpatient and office procedures.
There are three common types of common forms of sinus surgery, and we will discuss each briefly.
This is the oldest form of sinus surgery still used, and it revolutionized the way the doctors dealt with the issue of sinusitis. This is also the least invasive form of surgery and can even be done on an outpatient basis. What the procedure involves, in a nutshell, is the insertion of a fiber optic tube called an endoscope into the sinuses. This means that the doctors can actually see inside your sinuses and use their view to guide them in clearing out obstructions that are causing difficulties in your sinus passages.
The nasal endoscope does not scrape the excess mucus from your sinuses. Instead, it travels through your nasal passages and clears out any impediments. This lets your sinuses drain a lot more easily. It also allows your doctor to have a good inside knowledge of what your sinuses and nasal passages look like. This is typically done on an outpatient basis.
As the sinuses cavities are quite close to the brain, eyes, and other vital organs, there is always a concern when sticking an endoscopic tube in someone’s sinus cavity. Most often used in cases where sinus structures are abnormal in “design” or their sinusitis is incredibly severe. Through this technique, CT scans are done in real time which provides a three dimensional image by which the doctors can more accurately use to place the endoscope than in the normal FESS procedure. This is the best method of sinus surgery when extreme precision is required.
This type of surgery takes a completely different approach to fixing the problems of chronic sinus infections. Rather then working to actually remove any blockage, this form of surgery is designed to increase the appropriate drainage of the sinuses. The way this surgery is done is by going using the upper jaw as the entrance point to the sinuses. What this does is create a passage between the maxillary and the nose. As a side note, this surgery is usually used when there is a suspicion of cancer. However just because your doctor recommends the Caldwell Luc procedure, it does not mean that you have cancer. He or she may have simply noticed that most of your sinus congestion is in the maxillary area.
This is a new process with the distinctive advantage of being a procedure that your doctor can do in the office. Its goal is the same as the above-mentioned procedures – to open up your nasal airways. However, rather than using a scope with tiny tools to snip out obstructions, little balloons are inflated inside in nasal system to open up the passages.
It does not require packing after the operation or flushing to deal with crusting of blood and mucus and it is apt to be a matter of days rather than a couple of weeks for you to recover from sinus surgery.
We have found a useful video where Diane describes her experience with sinus surgery. It is hard to believe that she shot this video only the day after she had the operation. Clearly Diane had a very good experience with the surgery and we need to point out that this will probably not be the case for everyone.
The choice ultimately is yours – and one of the best ways to make sure that you make the right choice is to become really well informed about your condition and the treatment options that are available to you. My aim is that this site can help you become better informed about your treatment options with a specific emphasis on natural methods. However, it is your doctor that is your best resource and so make sure you ask plenty of questions and confirm the information you read on this site and other places online.
Your doctor should explore non-invasive treatments first and check that your condition isn’t caused by allergies rather than an underlying sinus condition. Talk to your doctor about all treatment avenues and then if sinus surgery seems the best or only option than so be it.
There are few complications associated with sinus surgery. The biggest one is that it might not actually alleviate the sinus issues you have. In some cases, it can cause bleeding during and after the surgery and chronic drainage or chronic dryness. In spite of these risks it is still a very good alternative if other types of treatments have not been working.
Hi, my name is John and I have been searching for some relief from my chronic sinus problems for some time. I have tried sinus surgery without much success and as a consequence I have been researching and testing alternative approaches to sinus relief. This site is the result of that research and testing and so my hope is that the information provided here can make a real difference to improving the quality of your life. Read more here ...
